December 22, 2005
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Investing in others - earlier this month I spent some air time on the subject of mentoring. We had a lively discussion with some good viewpoints. Now I want to talk about the subject a bit more broadly - investing in other people. I am very fortunate to have people in my life who are investing in me. People like Danielle, Greg, Steve, Brian, John, Todd, Rush, Dave, Chip, Sean, Adrian, Michelle, Mark, Thorsten, Leland, Greg R, Greg M, Bjorn, and others - they just give and give to me, and I don't even deserve it! They are all gifts from God in my life.
That should, and on good days does, cause me to want to invest in others. I can't tell you how warm it makes me feel inside when someone says to me, "I want to help you with your career and life." And, that those people want absolutely nothing in return. They give me this help - for free! I try and do the same for some folks out there, but the people I listed are my example. Thanks for being such a great example! Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric, arguably the most successful company of the past 100 years, once told his up and coming executives they only had one main responsibility when they worked for him - "To find and train your replacement." My current boss was in the meeting where Jack said that, because he worked for GE at the time. So, the thing I think about every day is who am investing in, and at work, who will be my replacement. We cannot hold to tightly on to any responsibility we are given, because it is not 'ours' per se, but really something we are given to be responsible for.
Chew on that. JVD
Comments (8)
Good thoughts, Joe. I think we need to make ourselves invest in others to the point that it becomes a habit whereby we are always naturally thinking of how we can invest in others. It's also a good practice for breaking selfishness and losing a bigger perspective.
Have a great Christmas by the way. I really enjoyed the IMN StrengthsFinder course you ran and have already been able to take several people through their strengths since. Thanks for investing in me!
Since your interested in Jack, do you know Reid's book "The United States of Europe"? It has a chapter on the most painful lession Jack had to learn, right before the end of his career. He suffered it at the hands of the then European Trade Comissioner (which, of course, made it worse). Instead of crowning his career by spectacularly buying Honeywell, he ended up humiliated. I wonder what that did to him for his retirement. More importantly, though, there are some interesting cultural dimensions to that particular controversy. Anyways, just thought you might be interested.
t.
If I work on my replacement as a teacher, I have got to REALLY be forward thinking! It reminded me that I need to be in the business of calling out the gifts of my students more. Thanks for the reminder!
Wishing you a day of warmth, a year of happiness, and life full of all God has for you. Merry Christmas!
breathe fire.
Sam - Thanks for your thoughts. It will be fun to hear more about what you are doing with Strengths in England, and what you are learning. I wonder if being in a different country, how much context (not the strength) will make a difference on how people do or do not engage their strengths. JVD
Thorsten-
I will check that out. The one thing I like about Welch is that he was not afraid to fail -
JVD
SOW - Yes, you are right on track, it may take a while, but you will hopefully inspire others to the noble profession you are involved with. JVD
Steve - Same to you - thanks for your thoughts. JVD
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